A Funny Story!!!

I had asked the Lord to reveal to me more about sin and defilement. Since I grew up in a non-believing home, where pluralism and tolerance were the main ideologies understanding sin can be confusing. Asking the Lord to reveal this was so I could not participate in sin such as worry, unforgiveness, unbelief, or any such sin. Recently the Lord has been showing me more about forgiveness and how to walk in forgiveness. So as I set out to take our dog Shilo for a walk I bundled up because it was right at freezing and just spitting snow. We walked for a ways with my nose running a little because of the cold, Shilo was content on the leash until we got to an open space. She loves to be off leash if there is no one else around, so unlactched her and she took off with a smile on her face (it does look like a smile). She decided she needed to do some business and went pee then she decided to go poop. Since we were at the end of the open space I used a plastic bag to scoop the poop and put Shilo back on leash. We continue on our walk for a ways on the sidewalk, then out of the blue I hit a patch of ice. I was quickly on my rear end and the poop bag I was holding exploded at the fall smearing on the ice but also my glove and coat. To make matters even better someone stopped to ask if I was okay. I laughed and decided to finish my walk coming back to clean up the poop on the sidewalk. As I walked on I sense the Lord speak to me about what just happened. He reminded me of my prayer and said that the poop is like the sin that is visited on us when someone hurts us. We quickly pick up the poop to contain it through a judgement, judging the person seems to make the hurt a little less painful. Then like I was we carry the poop (judgement from the sin) in a bag, believing we are just fine. It is only when we hit a patch of ice (something or someone triggers the unforgiveness), that the sin/judgement spills out and brings defilement (the poop on my coat and glove). Dog poop stinks by the way, this defilement wasn't me (I showered in the morning) but now I was affected by it. In the same way when our unforgiveness comes out towards another person it stinks (from defilement) but this is an opportunity for the Holy Spirit to free us from the judgment and the defilement. Often the judgement/defilement affects the people we love the most (our family, close friends, or extended family). To be free of both forgive and release the original judgment you held against a person when they hurt you and then ask the Lord to see them through His eyes. If possible go to the person and tell them you forgive them (be specific). According to the Word of God you then release them from prison and yourself. The Enemy will often use unforgiveness as a way to torment believers, don't give him this ground.

In His Grace,
Bret Rutland

A New Heart!

As I again heard the depth of discouragement flow from a friend's mouth, it would be easy to join in the darkness. If I saw only from this friend's perspective, it would be easy to join the pity party. Yet the Word of God does not just bring a change but total change in the reality of our living. Ephesians 4:22-25 tells us to put off the old man (which is everything we are connected with sin), not the behavior but the image (which is a deception) of us in sin. As I shared this with my friend, he looked at me like I came from a strange planet. His whole reality had included discouragement, dispair, loneliness, and darkness for many years. When people met Jesus there wasn't a small change in their life but a whole new reality created by a whole new relationship with God. As I shared the reality of the command in Ephesians 4:22-25, commands in the New Covenant are not given for us to accomplish in our own power but by the work of the indwelling Holy Spirit. As the Holy Spirit reveals the Word of God, something deep in us stirs with a new realm of possiblity for living. It was clear that he wanted to believe he could be free but there was fear of disappointment. This is why I am so grateful that faith comes from hearing and hearing by the Word of God. The Word of God is a solid foundation because this is God speaking to His people through divinely inspired writing. As he finally decided to agree with the Word of God my friend took off what he had been wearing for years, he was not the darkness but the darkness was on him. It was more secure to continue to live in this darkness than move into a new realm of living where he didn't know who he was or what his purpose was. As he painfully took off what had met his needs for years, the Lord gave him a picture of a shower which was the Lord cleansing him from all the defilement of years of living in darkness. We continued in our prayer to ask the Lord what my friend could put on in the place of the image of the old man. All of the sudden he said his heart dropped out of his chest, he was shocked. But then the Lord did the most amazing thing, the Lord gave him a new heart (Jesus heart). There was surprise across his face and unbelief. We so think we have to earn, deserve, and sweat for what we get in life. Grace is offensive, beautiful, and a gift. For those skeptical or doubting, the Holy Spirit was simply making real the promise of the New Covenant from Ezekial 36:25-27.


"Then I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you will be clean; I will cleanse you from all your filthiness and from all your idols. Moreover, I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; and I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. I will put My Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes, and you will be careful to observe My ordinances."

It is still truly amazing that the New Covenant is unilateral (God giving to us) but entering into the world of grace is not an easy journey. We are so used to believing "there are no free lunches" that we are skeptical of God's amazing offer of grace. My continual prayer is that God would teach me how to receive from Him. Moving from an approach of life of "getting" to receiving and then giving is a work only the Holy Spirit can do in and through us.

In His Amazing Grace,
Bret

Friend or Servant

As I look back on my old posts I am shocked that time has gone by so quickly since I have written. We have been in the midst of a move and I was on vacation. I was recently reflecting on the passage where Jesus said I no longer call you servant for a servant doesn't know what his master is doing but I call you friend (John 15:15). The Lord spoke to my heart and showed me that when I approach Him as a servant that I will not know what He is up to. A servant or a slave is only expecting to be given direction for the task at hand, not to understand and know the heart of the Father. The word "friend" used in this context is a covenant word and marks a fundamental change in our relationship to God through the New Covenant in Jesus Christ. Under the Old Covenant, a system of Laws given by God, your main focus is obedience to a written law. The New Covenant in Christ ushers in a whole new relationship to God but so many times were attempt to relate to God through rules, traditions, and institutional expectations rather than through the Holy Spirit who is within us (if you have been born again). I realize my mind has been programmed with ways of seeing God through this former relationship dictated by rules or internal rules that don't produce real relationship. To actually experience a friendship with Jesus is unique and fresh. I have had many experiences with the Lord but also have had counterfeits, it may have just been my own mind convincing me that the Christian platitude is really God's voice. I have more and more hunger for Him, not for platitudes, traditions, or Law. Clearly God's word to us personally does not violate His written Word and many times He speaks to us through the written Word. Will you join me on this adventure of entering into friendship (covenant) with Jesus where we will not only learn new language, a new way of seeing things, but a new way of living that produces joy and freedom. As I look at New Testament scripture I see a God who has done everything to come to us where we were and is longing for us to really know Him (not just knowing about Him). I long to know His heart and have caught many glimpses but I journey to consistently commune with Him on a daily basis, living in the reality of His love and grace. I invite you to join me on this journey, I say journey because it is an adventure instead of a perfectly scripted path. Father is always drawing His people, are we willing to hear and respond the gently touch of His Spirit.

In His Love,
Bret Rutland